Lithography is a pivotal step in semiconductor manufacturing, responsible for transferring circuit patterns onto the silicon wafer. This is achieved using Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) light sources. ASML, headquartered in the Netherlands, holds a dominant position in the supply of lithography equipment, particularly for the advanced EUV technology. Other significant players include Canon and Nikon, both based in Japan, with facilities also in the USA. Smaller suppliers like S-Cubed (USA) and EV Group (Austria, with operations in the USA) also contribute to the lithography equipment market. The near-monopoly of the Netherlands in EUV lithography establishes the country as a strategically important and potentially vulnerable point in the global semiconductor supply chain, given the essential role of this technology in producing leading-edge microchips. Japan and the USA also maintain a strong presence in the broader lithography equipment market, particularly in DUV technologies.   

Upwards of 100 million USD, ASML's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems provide the highest resolution in high-volume manufacturing. By enabling chipmakers to squeeze even more transistors onto a single chip, the state-of-the-art technology – which is unique to ASML – is pushing Moore’s Law forward.

Deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems are the cornerstone of the semiconductor industry. The dry and immersion DUV systems in our portfolio are used for high-volume manufacturing of the most advanced Logic and Memory chips, novel chip innovation and everything in between.

The TWINSCAN NXE:3800E is the successor to the TWINSCAN NXE:3600D. It combines imaging and overlay improvements with a big step up in productivity.

The NXE:3800E is designed to cost-efficiently support volume production of 2 nm Logic nodes and leading-edge DRAM nodes. Its patterning capabilities are complementary to those provided by our immersion lithography systems.

A new bottom module was key to boosting productivity in the NXE:3800E. The module, which is common with the 0.55 NA EXE platform, includes a new wafer handler, faster wafer stages and other components needed to support increased throughput. A higher-power source, another component shared with the EXE platform, also contributed to the system’s productivity.

The NXE:3800E optimizes imaging and overlay performance for each exposed wafer by combining in-situ measurements with per-wafer correction capability of the optics and stages. Better stage alignment further supports the improved overlay. And by mitigating mirror heating, the system is able to offer imaging with reduced aberrations and increased stability.

Source: ASML